7.6.09

I kind of thought I made a good move going out to run when I did, because it was pretty cloudy and blocking a lot of the sun. We had storms yesterday and they were on their way out. But about as soon as I started running everything cleared out pretty quick and I was left to run with the bare sun shining down on me. It made for a pretty hot time, but at least it was windy in one direction and that kept my eyes just dry enough not to get a ton of sweat in them. Either way I held on as long as I could and actually felt pretty good for the most part. We went to a networking meeting tonight, so ending a few minutes short wasn't a bad thing because it gave me some more time to get ready.

It's supposed to be in the 90's over the next week, so I'm really going to try to run in the morning and at night. Hopefully I'll miss the hottest hours of the day that way and possibly be able to get more miles in than I normally would. We'll see what happens.

4pm. home. 85º 58%H From NNE 6 mph
54:02(7.92) bf 1503

7.4.09

Happy Fourth. Spent yesterday with the family and didn't run. So much for the streak. It's okay though, i'm making up for it with a double later in the week :)

Easy run today and did it later on. Much better to run when the sun is almost set, could have went a lot longer.

7:30pm. home. 81º 49%H calm
45:06(6.60) bf 1495

7.02.09

Two days down. Run was progressively difficult. I didn't think I was gonna make it toward the end and bout did myself in with a final sprint. Another day in the books though.

4:30pm. 83º W 9mph
46:16(6.88) bf 1489

7.01.09

I had an interview for a cross country position this morning. It went really well up until the point where recruiting was considered. I mean the guy really liked me and said I would be a great asset to any program, but that he wanted someone in the school. I respect that, and believe me I wish they'd give the art position there as well, just show me where to sign. You see our county is cutting positions, especially in art and music, and basically all the teachers who have been working 30+ years aren't planning on retiring any time soon. It's a waiting game for teachers like me, and I ain't getting any younger. Doubly bad it's now seemingly keeping me from this coaching position, which I would LOVE to get.

But things aren't hopeless, there is a chance I can still get the job. I live really close to the school, and honestly if they really need recruiting I could run around the school all day long for a week just to see how many kids I could get to join to the team. The main reason they need kids is because a new school is nearby, so they lost a large portion of their students, about 700 of them. So I'm praying and hoping that it works out.

In running news I've had a nice long break. I seem to be ready for training again, which is the good news. Today is the first of the month, and I think that got me back into gear. I've decided to set a goal to run everyday this month. Just get back to basics, doesn't matter how far or long or when, just get out there and run sometime every single day for this entire month.

Today was actually pretty nice, with the temps in the lower 80's and dropping, with a little shade from the trees made a pretty good run. I didn't go quite as far as I wanted to because I had a stitch in my lung and behind my left knee was kind of tight - which is normal after a few days off. So as I said my goal for this month is to simply run everyday. i think it'll get me back on track.

Also thanks for the comments, I appreciate them probably more than you know!

6:00pm. home. 83° 41% From WNW 9 mph
54:40(8.01) bf 1483

6.26.09

I feel like I'm hanging by the skin of my teeth lately when it comes to running. Each day is a battle to get out the door, and the runs aren't exactly easy like they were when it was cooler outside. For instance today during my run I had to stop twice for water and a little recovery, and about halfway through the last loop I really had to stay positive and think about the old "one foot in front of the other" 4-feet running theme song just to make it. Still each time I go out there and do that I feel better about it, but apparently not enough to do it everyday.

Still working hard. I've got lots of caricatures to work on, and April has a new printer so she can print all kinds of things. It's not just a photo printer, it's a deluxe printer that can print large format things, print on vellum, etc. and it has 4 drawers that can hold about 350 sheets of paper. So yeah, it's not simply a new printer you can just by from the store, it cost a pretty penny, but she needs it to get her business going.

Tomorrow we are going to Splash Country near Pigeon Forge. We are going with April's sister and her boyfriend and I think it will be a lot of fun. Not sure how it will affect running, but at this point I guess any reason is acceptable to put a zero in the calendar.

92° F 51% From W4 mph
1:05:05 (9.60) bf 1475

6.23.09

Great run today. Not a cloud in the sky and it was sunny and beautiful. Took a water break after each loop because it was really hot because of the direct. I ended up having to take a water break about every three miles, or every loop around the block. It worked well, but was still a pretty good effort at the end to stay on pace and finish the run.

Actually had some words of encouragement from a woman in the neighborhood. She said I have inspired a lot of people around here with my running, and it's true I've seen a couple more people walking and running than I normally do. She has been doing water aerobics because she cannot run quite yet. I encouraged her to keep at it, but it was really cool to hear that from a relative stranger. I've waved at her a few times, but never really talked. It really felt good.

6:15pm. home. 89º
1:04:00 (9.51) bf 1466

6.22.09

So today was a great run through the neighborhood. After the major storms today, which blew over have the plants on our front porch, it was clear and beautiful. It also wasn't too hot because the rain had cooled things down slighty, so just above 80 degrees wasn't too bad. I felt really good the first two loops and the last one struggled just a bit, but still felt really good.

I like that my legs feel great. When I was running a lot of miles they always felt tight and honestly I was probably running too much, but that's the sort of thing I risk I guess. Running is a sort of all or nothing for me. If I'm going to do something, I do it all the way and taking days off or whatever is to risky with my mindset. I'm kind of in that place now, where I've taken so many days off I'm kind of that brink of not running, but I'm hanging in there and I think things will turn around soon.

Well it's been a rough couple weeks. Not bad rough, just different rough because so many things are happening right now. Lots of life changes with jobs and just getting used to new schedules. April is getting her business going. We have an office now and so we are getting things together for that. It's just hard getting used to her being home now, because she did work most of the day before and now she gets to hang with me. There is also talk of maybe getting a teaching position, but it's still up in the air. There are just so many things going on right now it's been difficult to feel motivated to run with so much else on the plate. Soon I should have a new normal and get back on my usual running track.

5:30pm. home. 82º 71% 4mph
1:04:00 (9.41) bf 1457

6.16.09

Not too bad today, a little cloudy but got sunnier and hotter. Probably going to switch to morning and afternoon runs soon.

11:30am. home. 81° 70%H 2 mph
42:15(6.34) bf 1448

6.14.08

Tough run, it was hot. Not sure what's going to happen in July when it hits 90 at 9 am.

5:05pm. home. 85º 51H 4 mph
42:36(6.41) bf 1442

6.12.09

It wasn't too bad out today. The first loop I caught clouds and the second the sun really came down, but I felt good. The third loop was tough and about halfway through that one I knew I was almost spent for the day. I really feel inconsistent lately so I'm thinking I need to write some stuff down. Other than this blog, which is basically just a log/journal I normally keep a barebones schedule laying around. I haven't gotten around to filling one out yet, but I was thinking before I know it fall races will be here, training has to start now (at least in the base sense). There's something about having a schedule, no matter how rough, that keeps you extra accountable. I hate filling in zeros.

4:45pm. home. 83º 60%H 6mph
1:02:41(9.35) bf 1436

6.11.09

Thunderstorms were still going on through the day, but luckily it cleared up and was very nice around five. I got out the door while I could. A good run. It was a little hot today, but not too bad since the rain had just come through and I caught a couple clouds too :) We were supposed to go camping tomorrow, but now it looks like the plans aren't going through. It's not a bad thing it'll give me more time to finish some things and run.

5:30pm. home. 77º 76%H 5mph
1:07:10(10.02) bf 1427

6.9.09

Extremely hot today, just tried to make it 40 minutes.


4:45pm. home. 88º 50h 5mph
42:37(6.37) bf 1418

6.7.09

Easy run turned into a kind of tempo around the neighborhood. Clouds made it a little easier to run and since I've had plenty of time off the legs were really fresh and I just wanted to go fast so I did.

7:33pm. home. 84º 41h 5mph
41:30 (6.38) bf 1412

5.31.09

Not a bad run at all today. It was pretty hot outside getting up near 85, but I didn't mind. The shaded parts of the loop were welcome. Today I felt back to regular form and the legs felt pretty fresh, probably from getting a good night's rest. Not a lot to say about this run other than made a water stop at the second loop. I probably could have stopped a few more times because my mouth was really dry for a good portion of the run, but I don't like to stop so I usually just run through it. So that's pretty much it. I'm feeling really good right now and still haven't decided whether or not to do the one mile run Thursday night. It would be fun, but if something else comes up I wouldn't be that upset. We'll see what happens and I'll make a decision on that soon.

Haven't been wearing HR monitor lately. Not only does it feel more natural running without it, but I've just felt more "free" to run at whatever pace I feel like. It's worked fine so far because I feel really good on my last few runs with a moderate effort. I might just start using them on speed and tempo days, just days where the goal will be a higher HR.

5:15pm. home. 83° 37%H 7 mph from NW
1:01:30(9.43) bf 1397

5.30.09

I never got around to another tweet5k attempt. It wasn't that I didn't get to, I just didn't feel like I needed to do another hard run this week. The legs weren't tired, but they were achy and that usually isn't a good sign. Oh well, I got a pretty good time in all things considered. The other cool thing was I got a tshirt somehow. I guess it was part of a giveaway the day I ran, not real sure. There were some pretty crazy times posted, 13's and 15's is just crazy talk to me. I guess though most of those people ran in college and probably ran all through high school before that. I ran track in high school, but only in season, and of course I only ran cross country my senior year, because we didn't have it before that. It would have been a good night to run hard. It was cooling down and not as windy as it was the other day. There will always be more races to run though, so no big loss.

So I'm not so sure I'm going to do the one mile race. Honestly I like training much more than racing. I mean racing is fun, but it is stressful not only physically, but mentally it wears me down. I've really been wanting to get back to base training, so I don't know, maybe one more fast one, then call it quits for the hard speedwork. I won't quit working on speed entirely, but will just focus more on speed endurance. Thinking about it, this training cycle seems to be perpetually going on. I started back in September, and it just feels like it's time to regroup and start fresh. Just trying to keep an open mind at this point and do what will work best for me.

7:24pm. home. 79°48%H 4 mph from WSW
1:12:14(10.53) gf 740

5.29.09

I felt really worn down today. Hard tempo run yesterday took a lot out of my legs and bad night of sleep made the whole day a kind of blur. Still I got outside and ran a little, not wanting to put a zero in the schedule. Tomorrow I was wanting to do another attempt at the tweet5k, but I'm not too sure it's going to happen. It would be nice to go under 18, and I think I could probably do it with better pacing, but I'm not sure how tomorrow is going to go so we will see. If the legs feel good and fresh tomorrow I'll probably take a stab, if not I'll just run. I'm missing my higher mileage stuff a lot lately (never thought I would even consider that notion) and am wanting to get back up to snuff.

The one mile is next week. I'm not going all out on it as far as I know, but maybe I'll be in the zone. I guess I'm not going to go out gung-ho for a sub 5 or anything. A healthy PR of a few seconds would be just fine by me, but I'm mostly doing it for fun. The course is on inner state I-40 which has been under reconstruction for about 3 years now. They are opening it back up Friday, so theoretically it will be the only time anyone ever gets to run on it so that's pretty cool.

home. 74º 55%H 6 mph from NNW
21:16(3.06) gf 731
AHR 150 MHR 166

5.25.09

Very warm today, especially toward the end of the run when it got sunny. The beginning of the run was cloudy and felt really good, but by the third loop I was feeling the heat. I pushed the pace too and was pretty determined not to relax. The HR got up pretty high, but I'm not going to worry about that much anymore, the higher the better. The sun definitely helped in that aspect. It was a really nice today to run. I passed the Mormon's a few times and gave them a nice wave, thinking to myself about who people thought was crazier, me or them.

Quad is still a little sore, but legs were definitely back under me today.

4:15pm. home. 82° 60%H 3 mph from SSE
1:03:30(9.25) gf 728
AHR 160 MHR 180

5.24.09

Yesterday I forgot to mention that a muscle in my right quad was really iffy after the race. I almost felt it cramp up a few times, and going up stairs I was really leery that it would just tighten and stay that way. So today it is really sore. I think it was just from the hard race, but there may have been some additional damage from the cramping. The muscle runs along the inside of the top of the quad, if that makes any sense. The big reason to mention this is that I ended up taking it easier today because of that. I only got one loop around the neighborhood. Probably my shortest run in a long long time. I just didn't see the need in running around with a sore muscle. Obviously it needed rest.

So that was less than exciting. But it gave me time to go walk with April and we walked for a good 40 minutes with a trip up the HH so at least I was out there the amount of time I wanted to be. The swimming pool in the neighborhood is open now. I'm thinking it will be a great way to get some extra cardio in without beating up my legs. Looking forward to see if that works out.

I have decided to continue on with my speed training for another month. For one I have a mile race coming up that I'd like to beat my PR in, and if I keep training for a few weeks after that I should be ready to tackle a 5k at the beginning of July. That would pretty much sum up my summer racing because I really want to start a new base. I've enjoyed speedwork, but I feel like I haven't been running many miles. I'd like to stay up in the 100's ideally leading into some nice Fall races. So that's the basic skeleton for now.

On the ipod front - my ipod yesterday did not log the run as I said. It had been freezing on me and I'd have to restart it to get it back to the main screen. Even that didn't work at the start of the race, which is why I had to run blind. Now remember I've logged over 520 runs with this thing - rain, heat, and bouncing around, so 2 years is actually a pretty good lifespan (plus I bought it used to begin with). Well April used her combined b-day money to get a touch, so I have now adopted her "old" nano, which is newer than mine (but also was used before she got it). I'd like to sell the other ipod back to mac, because it still worked. The only problem is when it goes into standby mode it would come out of it, but show a blank white screen so they may be able to refurbish it somehow. So anyway I have a "new" ipod to use now :P.

6:15pm. home. 80° 63%H 4mph from ESE
22:35 (3.23) gf 719
AHR 153 MHR 172

5.22.09

Nice litte run in the heat today. Legs are still a bit tight which I'm not too thrilled about, but I think once I get out on the course they will respond. Did form drills afterward, was going to them before the run, but since it's only in my routine for the track I just went about my daily routine and took off out the door. Should be good to go for tomorrow after this real easy day.

Any guesses as to finish time? I'm pretty solid with sub 38 for now. Sorry no contest this time, still finishing the last one :P New course, so hopefully nobody gets lost and everything goes smoothly. I really like the post-race for this one, normally smoothie king has delicious cool treats, woohoo!

4:15pm. home. 82° 46%H 5mph from E (sunny, warm)
36:25(5.14) gm 1043
AHR 150 MHR 168

5.21.09

Few loops around the hood. Was warmer today and a little harder to run, did three accelerations in the last mile. Not really feeling motivated from that run, but Monday's was really good so I'm not too worried. I think it was just harder because of the heat. I'm not sure what the weather will be like race day. It's usually warm in the mornings, but shouldn't be too bad. I'm as ready as I'm going to be at this point, all that's left to do is go out there and see who I can run with. It's a pretty decent size race and normally there are 4-5 people within striking distance no matter what your pace is. I think it will be good. Looking forward to getting out there controlled and fast.

81º 44%H 6 mph from ESE
55:14(8.10), gf 716 x3 accels
AHR 158 MHR 185